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State of Politics: Babinec Has Enough Signatures for November Ballot

Martin Babinec, a businessman running as an independent for the open 22nd congressional district in central New York, announced on Tuesday he had collected the required number of signatures to gain access for his Upstate Jobs Party this November.

Babinec is running for the NY22 district being vacated by Rep. Richard Hanna, a moderate Republican first elected in 2010, who leaves office this year.

His presence is an added factor in the race that includes the two major party candidates, Democrat Kim Myers and Republican Claudia Tenney.

“The Upstate Jobs Party has been met with incredible enthusiasm from voters of all walks of life throughout the district and I’m proud to announce we have already surpassed the signature threshold necessary – but we need more,” Babinec said in a statement.

State election law requires a minimum of 3,500 signatures from any registered voter within the congressional district hasn’t already signed a petition in order to qualify for the ballot.

The general rule of thumb is to file more than twice that number in order to withstand any legal challenges to the signatures.

“By signing our petition, voters are sending a strong message to the career politicians and the special interests who want to keep a rigged system in place that the days of broken promises and taxpayer giveaways are coming to an end,” Babinec said.